Surely it is possible to 'tag' a note as an accidental from the keyboard rather than selecting the flat or sharp with the mouse - but I have not found out how to do it! A simple Q with probably a simple amswer - but not obvious to me.
The accidental is determined by:
- The pitch of the note that you enter from the MIDI keyboard
- The key signature of the current piece
And if you are talking about the computer keyboard, you can see the keyboard shortcuts for accidentals right on the Notes menu, or by hovering the mouse over the accidental buttons on the toolbar.
You can 'tag' a note as an accidental from they keyboard with the 7, 8, and 9 number keys on your number pad. 7 for natural, 8 for flat and 9 for sharp. Of course you have to hit these keys before the 'enter' key.
Recently, I have noted elsewhere in the Forum (see https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?topic=248.msg14747#msg14747 and https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?topic=248.msg14815#msg14815) how the Noteworthy handling of accidentals could stand some improvement.
In the case at hand, the main gotcha is that accidentals may be nullified by later insertion of barlines.
Therefore, it should be possible (normal) for notes to automatically carry an accidental when entered from the MIDI keyboard.
The simplest way to carry this out would be to make Force Accidentals a mode instead of a command, i.e. applying to notes entered in the future, not the existing score.
But - when inserting a barline, you've created a new bar (measure), so NWC's behaviour in cancelling the accidental and returning to the stated key signature is entirely correct!
But I like the idea of forcing accidentals while keying in the notes from a Midi keyboard. Then you can fix up/audit bar lines and accidentals later.
There is a fundamental principle in interface design
called the principle of least astonishment. When I
key in a bunch of notes from the keyboard, sometimes I
remember to force accidentals and then add the barlines,
and sometimes I don't. In the latter case, I get little
surprises here and there. Sometimes the little surprises
aren't detected until strangers have seen the score. The
whole idea of keying in notes is that MIDI tells NWC
exactly which note is intended, including the accidental,
if any. Having NWC change that note later, for whatever
reason, including the accidental-cancelling rule for
barlines, violates the principle of least astonishment.
It's an effect the user (me!!) wasn't expecting.
Therefore, I should hear the same note I keyed in, whether
I add a barline or not. The easiest way to achieve that
is to force an accidental on all notes entered from the
keyboard. This is what I call Force Accidentals! i(mode)
instead of the Force Accidentals tool. And following
along my recent comments on accidentals, I have proposed
it as an enhancement instead of a fix. And it seems
like a simple enhancement since the machinery for forcing
accidentals is already around.
B.B.: A very clear explanation!